A major U.S.-organized Middle East conference is under way in Poland, a NATO member that has tightened cooperation with Washington as a counterweight to Russia’s influence in Central and Eastern Europe. Iran appears to be the main focus of the February 13-14 conference in Warsaw, and Tehran has labeled the …

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said the alliance is studying a “wide range of options” to deal with alleged Russian violations of a major arms-control agreement, while U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused Moscow of wanting to “dominate” Europe.

On Wednesday (13 February 2019), the Defence Ministers from Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to establish a Regional Special Operations Component Command (R-SOCC) in the margins of the meetings of NATO Defence Ministers in Brussels. Partner nation Austria will sign the LOI immediately following …